It used to be a part of Gmail‘s Labs as a beta feature for intrepid users of Gmail to test out (Williams, 2015) since March 2009, possibly the longest beta period for any product or feature.

This feature is mainly being aimed at Gmail Desktop users but is not available for smartphone or Tablet users (Villas-Boas, 2015) using Google Android or iOS, where cramped keyboards result in more mistakes being made.

Gmail’s Undo Send – How to prevent your boss from firing you

The service really works by setting a delay on how long before it send an email, giving you time to spot errors or cancel and email before it is sent. It then appears as an Undo option in the yellow box that appears just after you’ve sent a Gmail email.

Click Settings in the upper tight hand corner, which is a icon that looks like a gear

Choose the Option for Settings from the Setting menu

Select the General Tab

Click the Enable Undo Send once you’ve located it in the General Tab

Click the drop-box to set the Send cancellation period i.e. 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds.

Scroll to the bottom of the Settings screen

Click the Save Changes button

Testing the feature is straightforward and easy. When you click Compose and create your email and send it as usual, you’ll see a yellow box (Villas-Boas, 2015) appear at the top of your email with the words “Your message has been sent. Undo. View Message”.

To prevent the email from being sent, simply click the Undo option. You are automatically brought back to the Compose views that you can edit your email and make the necessary changes before sending.

Now if only this feature could come to IM (Instant Messaging Platforms) on Desktop, Smartphone and Tablets, as there’s a lot of stuff I’d love to take back.